Seventh-grade Lizards go undefeatedDARDANELLE — The Dardanelle seventh-grade Sand Lizards finished their season with an unblemished 11-0 record on Saturday after winning the Dardanelle Seventh-grade Invitational on Saturday. Dardanelle hosted Two Rivers, Dover, Lamar, Danville and Atkins. “This group continued to get better and better throughout the year,” Sand Lizards head coach Jared White said. “There is a very good mixture of guards who can handle, pass and shoot the ball a...

by
Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Wonder Boys salvage split against Missouri WesternBig second innings proved to be the difference as the No. 17 Arkansas Tech baseball team split a doubleheader against Missouri Western for the second straight day, dropping the afternoon opener 10-4 before coming back to take the nightcap 11-2 Saturday at Tech Field. The Wonder Boys (2-2) struggled against the Griffons (2-2) in Game 1, allowing seven runs in the first two innings, and couldn’t climb back out of the early hole. Missouri Western...

by
ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

No fishing like spring fishingSpring is without a doubt the best time of the year to be fishing as both the fishermen and the fish have survived a long winter and are both eager for some action. The fishermen are dying to get outside and enjoy the newly warmed weather and water, and the fish are looking to feed up after emerging from the frigidly cold waters. Spring is also the best time to pursue my favorite two species of fish (bass and crappie) as they become more activ...

Lady Wildcats clinch 2A-4HECTOR — The Hector Lady Wildcats clinched the 2A-4 Conference basketball title on Thursday with a 48-33 win over the Conway Saint Joseph Lady Bulldogs inside the Hector Multi-Purpose Building. The Lady Wildcast (16-5, 10-0 2A-4) are the only team left undefeated in the conference, while all other teams have at least three losses. “It was a big win,” said Walt Davis, interim head coach and superintendent. “There’s still two games left in confe...

Frazier's free throws lift Florida over Arkansas, 57-56GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Michael Frazier II could have been feeling sorry for himself. He's done it before, all season really. But despite not getting shots to fall, Frazier stayed involved and made two free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining that gave Florida a 57-56 victory over Arkansas on Saturday. Dorian Finney-Smith added 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Gators (12-9, 5-3 Southeastern Conference), who won their second str...

Golden Suns grab road winArkansas Tech University dominated the final seven minutes of the first half and avoided its first women’s basketball losing streak of the season by defeating Ouachita Baptist University 66-61 in Great American Conference play at Vining Arena in Arkadelphia on Saturday. The nationally 20th-ranked Golden Suns (16-3 overall, 11-2 GAC) outscored Ouachita Baptist 19-4 over the final seven minutes of the opening period. The spurt began with a Katri...

by
ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Panthers forged at 'Blast Furnace'CLARKSVILLE — Things were supposed to be different for the Panthers football team after head coach Eli Cranor took over the program prior to the 2014 season. Cranor said he wanted to establish a foundation for success for the Panthers, but things don’t work out exactly as planned. “Coming into that season, we knew there were going to be challenges,” he explained. "We knew we were going to have to overcome some things on our team and on our pro...

Cyclones punish Pointers on Colors DayThis is the Russellville Cyclones basketball team head coach Codey Mann expected in the preseason — and what a perfect time for it to come together. RHS defeated the Van Buren Pointers 55-36 to celebrate Colors Day on Friday night. Morever, the Pointers came into Cyclone Gym riding a nine-game win streak was undefeated in the 7A/6A-Central Conference. “At the start of the year, I looked at this as potentially playing for the conference champio...

Lady Cyclones edge Van BurenThe Russellville Lady Cyclones held on for a 44-42 win over the Van Buren Lady Pointers during Friday's Colors Day game inside Cyclones Stadium. Van Buren's Haley Jenner tied the game at 42 with less than a minute left, but Alyssa Owens answered with a layup to put Russellville back on top. From there, the Lady Pointers (11-7, 4-3 7A/6A-Central Conference) vied for court position. Van Buren threw the ball past midcourt, then called another tim...

Apaches fall to SubiacoSUBIACO — The Pottsville Apaches suffered a 62-53 loss to the Subiaco Academy Trojans on Thursday. Pottsville (12-10, 5-5 4A-4 Conference) battled to a 11-11 tie after the first quarter, but trailed 26-20 at halftime. The Apaches slipped behind 47-35 after the third quarter. “Subiaco is one of the toughest road games in our conference, so I am really proud of how our guys battled,” Pottsville head coach Shane Thurman said. “We played well enou...

by
Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Whirlwinds thump RocketsThe Russellville Whirlwinds picked up their second win of the week with a 39-36 win over the Little Rock Catholic Rockets. Russellville (11-8, 2-2 River Valley Conference) trailed 12 points at halftime, but got several steals and applied pressure man-to-man defense to erase the Catholic lead and go into the fourth with a 28-28 tie. Ryan Talley led Russellville in scoring with 19 points, followed by Gunnar Howerton with nine points, Josiah Wood...

by
Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Hurt nets quad-double for WestsideFORT SMITH — Delanei Hurt’s quadruple-double — 14 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 blocked shots and five steals — propelled the Johnson County Westside Lady Rebels to a 60-46 victory over the Fort Smith Union Christian Academy Lady Eagles on Thursday. The Lady Rebels kicked things off with a 19-17 lead over Union Christian then held on for a 31-28 lead at halftime. Johnson County Westside outscored the Lady Eagles 10-9 in the third and 19-...

Trusty clears 2k in Danville winDANVILLE — Senior point guard Jay Trusty broke 2,000 career points 15 seconds into the Danville Little Johns’ 58-25 victory over the Booneville Bearcats on Thursday. Trusty did the deed on an old-fashioned 3-point play. Danville raced to a 20-9 lead after the first quarter and led 34-14 at halftime. After the third quarter, the Little Johns had extended their lead to 53-17. Trusty finished the night with 14 points, brining his career total up ...

No. 20 Golden Suns head to OBUArkansas Tech University will dispatch its basketball teams to the Loveliest Village on the Ouachita River for a Great American Conference basketball doubleheader against Ouachita Baptist University at Vining Arena in Arkadelphia on Saturday, Jan. 31. The Golden Suns and the Wonder Boys are in the midst of a string of three consecutive road doubleheaders. They will head to Southwestern Oklahoma State University for a twin bill in Weatherford o...

by
ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

RHS swims strong at Conway meetCONWAY — The Russellville Cyclones and Lady Cyclones swim team traveled to Conway on Saturday to compete against over 300 swimmers and 18 teams from across the state. The Lady Cyclones finished in 11th place. Conway won the meet with a total score of 448 points and was followed by Bentonville (392), Pulaski Academy (320), Fayetteville (263), Bryant (201), Little Rock Central (176), Springdale (120), Magnolia (73), Rogers (69), El Dorado (62), ...

by
Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Cyclones honor Davis on Senior NightThe Russellville Cyclones wrestling team split matches with the Hot Springs Lakeside Rams and the Little Rock Central Tigers on Senior Night in a tri-match Thursday inside Cyclone Gymnasium. Russellville stormed over the Rams 53-6, but later fell to the Tigers 48-24. “I’m very excited,” Cyclones head coach Adrian Meredith said after the win over Lakeside. “Especially about the turnout.” Cyclone Gymnasium housed a rowdy and excited crowd to hel...

Cyclones prepare for Colors Day rumbleThe Russellville Cyclones and Lady Cyclones basketball game against the Van Buren points on Friday inside Cyclone Gymnasium isn't just Russellville's Colors Day, it's also the final game of the first round of 7A/6A-Central Conference action. Lady Cyclones (8-11, 4-2 7A/6A-Central Conference) head coach Steve Wiedower said that – combined with the fact that both the Lady Cyclones and Van Buren have two conference losses – made a win more impera...

Golden Suns named GAC preseason golf favoritesComing off a stellar 2013-14 campaign that saw the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns golf team qualify for the Division II National Championships and a solid fall where Tech captured team titles in two of five events, the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns golf team has been picked as the preseason favorite in the GAC through a vote of the league’s coaches. The Golden Suns garnered seven out of 10 first-place votes to earn 71 points in the poll, ahead of Hende...

by
ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

No. 17 Wonder Boys open season FridayWhile the Arkansas Tech baseball team has had plenty of success over its 100-plus year history, 2014 took that standard to a whole new level. After recording three 30-win seasons and four straight winning records in conference play in four seasons under coach Dave Dawson, the Wonder Boys broke onto the national stage last season with 44 victories, a 22-game winning streak and the highest national and regional rankings in program history. The s...

by
ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley